Originally, reformers of Cuyahoga County government in 2009 wanted to elect the public defender. The proposal garnered widespread outcry and the proposed county charter was changed to keep the office an appointed position. There was no such discussion then about electing the sheriff. Perhaps because then we were still reeling from the corruption of three-decade Sheriff Gerald McFaul, who forced his employees to sell tickets to his political fundraiser clambakes, stole money from his campaign fund, and violated ethics laws. The sheriff was folded under the purview of the county executive, as were the then-independent fiefdoms of treasurer, auditor, clerk of courts and more. Now we’re on our eighth county sheriff (whether interim or permanent) since 2010. After a long chain of problems at the county jail, the idea of electing the sheriff has resurfaced. What do you think? - Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
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There appears to be a growing movement to overhaul the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department, and there is a grassroots petition circulating online calling for the sheriff to be an elected position. (cleveland.com file photo) |
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Elected sheriff: As Cuyahoga County awaits Executive Chris Ronayne’s plans for how to improve conditions in the jail, a movement is growing to simultaneously overhaul the sheriff’s department. Whom should the sheriff report to? Should voters elect the official? Cuyahoga is the only Ohio county to have an appointed sheriff, reports Kaitlin Durbin. Drilling and taxes: Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman is looking to oil and gas production on public lands to help offset possible income tax cuts, reports Laura Hancock. “If the state can responsibly add to the revenue of the state and we can lower the tax burden, that makes Ohio a much more competitive state,” Huffman told drillers recently. Environmentalists raise questions. Today in Ohio: Ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder’s official portrait has been removed from the halls of the Ohio Statehouse following his conviction on a federal corruption charge. It disappeared to storage quietly, but we’re talking about whether there should have been a public ceremony on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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Speed limit: Ohio lawmakers’ proposed speed-limit increase for many Ohio roads would be more expansive than previously announced, under newly released language for a revised transportation budget bill. Jeremy Pelzer reports the Ohio Senate Transportation Committee’s revisions to the state’s two-year, $11.6 billion transportation budget bill would also apply to U.S. highways such as U.S. 33, which runs from Columbus to Athens. Train safety: U.S. House of Representatives members who represent areas near the site of a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, introduced bipartisan rail safety legislation on Friday that they hope will diminish the threat of future derailments, reports Sabrina Eaton. The Reducing Accidents in Locomotives (RAIL) Act that U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, a Marietta Republican, introduced with U.S. Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes, an Akron Democrat, would audit federal rail inspection programs, increase maximum penalties for rail safety regulation violations, increase funding for first responders’ hazardous materials training, and increase inspections on all trains, including those carrying hazardous materials. Jim Jordan: A new investigative subcommittee that Ohio’s Jim Jordan is using to probe “weaponization of the federal government” announced a new target on Thursday: the U.S. Air Force. Sabrina Eaton reports Jordan joined with Utah Republican Chris Stewart in a letter asking U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall to provide them with details on cases where the Air Force improperly released information from several service members’ personnel files to political operatives. |
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St. Patrick’s Day: If you missed the parade, we’ve got your photos. Abortion rights: Dozens of women came to Heritage Park in Chagrin Falls for a drive-through petition event to collect signatures for an abortion-rights constitutional amendment proposal that supporters want on the ballot in the fall. Kaylee Remington reports the event was organized by Red, Wine and Blue, a group that mobilizes suburban, left-leaning women. Lobbying contract: A company whose president donated $10,000 to Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne’s campaign later received a $120,000 no-bid lobbying contract from the county, reports Lucas Daprile. The year-long contract to McCaulley&Company was approved unanimously during a Feb. 21 Board of Control meeting following a recommendation from the county executive’s office. City Hall modernization: Mayor Justin Bibb wants to develop a 10-year strategy plan to improve operations and guide decision-making across City Hall – a roadmap, of sorts, in pursuit of Bibb’s pledge to modernize city government and make it more effective. Courtney Astolfi reports Bibb wants to hire Ernst & Young to complete the plans, paying up to $1.55 million for the work, using $1,050,000 from its share of American Rescue Plan Act money and a $500,000 grant from the Gund Foundation. County positions: Five more senior-level positions in Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne’s cabinet are up for grabs, reports Kaitlin Durbin. The county on Thursday posted openings for chief of integrated development, as well as directors of consumer affairs, regional collaboration, major projects and communications. Police reform: Past members of Cleveland’s police oversight panel have a message for the new group taking over the reform of the department: Be prepared for challenges and resistance to change. Olivia Mitchell reports that the voter-approved Community Police Commission now has more power than ever, including doling out discipline to officers, and that leadership marks a new start for a group that, in the past, fought publicly with city leaders over their commitment to reform. Water main break: A busy intersection in downtown Cleveland will be down to one lane in each direction today because of damage from a water main break on Sunday, Cliff Pinckard reports. Police officers will be at the intersection of Ontario Street and St. Clair Avenue to direct traffic during rush hour. |
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Bank fallout: In the wake of two historically large bank collapses in California and New York, stock prices are still turbulent for Ohio’s biggest banks, reports Sean McDonnell. Some of the largest banks that do business in Greater Cleveland — KeyBank, PNC, Fifth-Third and Huntington Bank — saw their stock prices dip anywhere from 9% to 26% in the past week, based on Friday’s closing prices. Think of it like a reverse bank run. Bankruptcy: Pandemic-related assistance that stopped last year contributed to a sharp increase in bankruptcy filings for people with steady incomes, reports Adam Ferrise. Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings, reserved for people above the poverty line but with consistent income, spiked 30% nationally in 2022, while all other forms of bankruptcy filings dropped, according to federal court statistics. Cuyahoga County’s numbers rose at about the same rate with a 27% jump. COVID-19 map: Twenty-two counties, including Cuyahoga and several surrounding counties, are designated yellow for moderate COVID-19 spread on the latest U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map, reports Gretchen Cuda Kroen. This is down from 30 counties with yellow designations a week ago. |
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Standoff: A stand-off across the street from a charter school ended peacefully Thursday night when a barricaded suspect surrendered to Cleveland police’s SWAT officers, reports Molly Walsh. The incident ended after hours of negotiation in the city’s North Broadway neighborhood. Deputy charged: A grand jury in Cuyahoga County has charged a 34-year-old Portage County sheriff’s deputy with rape, reports Cory Shaffer. Wilson Kuzyk was named in an indictment handed up Thursday that accused him of two counts of rape. Each count is a first-degree felony that carries up to 11 years in prison. Jaywalker assault: A jaywalker who confronted a motorist in the city’s Brooklyn Centre neighborhood has been charged with felonious assault after being accused of beating the driver unconscious in a McDonald’s parking lot, reports John Tucker. Rape charge: A man who authorities said was once a high-ranking member of a Cleveland street gang is accused of raping a woman while he was on house arrest. Cory Shaffer reports Jesus Bey, 31, has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and kidnapping stemming from an incident March 4 at his home on Duneden Avenue in Solon. |
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March Madness: No one can predict the winner of every NCAA basketball playoff game. (If you do, Lucas Daprile wants to know.) The goal is just to do better than your friends and coworkers. So cleveland.com collected the brackets of some Northeast Ohio officials to share and compare. Arts & Culture: Tensions are flaring in Cleveland’s arts community over how Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the agency that distributes cigarette tax money to the arts, provides grants to individual artists. More than 90% of the agency’s millions of dollars in distributions is allocated to 60 to 70 major nonprofit cultural organizations, but small grants are important to artists. Steven Litt reports they would like to see increased transparency, more consistent spending levels from year to year, greater efficiency and more community input over how the money is allocated. Ticketmaster fees: The Cure founder and frontman Robert Smith has stepped in on behalf of fans unhappy with Ticketmaster’s high fees and “convenience” charges, reports Malcom X Abram. House of the Week: A 16,000-square-foot house at 35850 S. Woodland Road in Moreland Hills was built in 2005 and priced at $6,975,000. Joey Morona reports the custom, contemporary-style home sits on more than six acres of land and offers five bedrooms, 10 bathrooms (six full), a four-car garage and an in-ground pool. |
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